Isekai Magus 3: A LitRPG Progression Saga (The Fantasy World of Nordan)

by Han Yang

  I followed her down, and the stink continued.

  “Here are the open and close buttons. I had something similar installed in my estate while I was a mortal. I’m closing us in.” Caitlyn pushed one of the square indents she mentioned. “Wrong one.”

  The second push locked us into the narrow stairway. She led the way with the illumination held high.

  “Why are we down here?” I asked.

  “I’m a mortal here, can you believe that?” Caitlyn said.

  I tilted my head in confusion. “You led me here to what? Kill you?”

  “No, silly. The Six Gods are divine creations or imposters. They will tell you there is no true Creator. They will say they were born as a collective to rule the galaxy as a group,” Caitlyn said.

  “Wouldn’t it be universe?” I asked.

  “Exactly. They’re not all powerful and most certainly have limits. With that said, I fear them about a thousand times more than a mythical Creator. However, places like this exist. Watch,” Caitlyn said, pausing on the bottom section of the stairs.

  She turned and grabbed my dagger from my belt. When she poked her finger it bled. I let out a sigh when she returned the weapon to its home.

  “Okay. You can bleed in here. Is that how they tortured you on Earth?” I asked.

  “Sort of. My protections were stripped suddenly. Here, they are only gone if I unwittingly walk into a trap. Back to your question. I’m here to teach, not die, you goof. If I die, your minions die, and you become Damien the Healer. How boring.”

  “I’d never be able to defend the city,” I said.

  “Yup, so don’t get no ideas. This is where I can be honest with you. Get a second city. The sooner the better. Put your goblins in it and let it fall then wipe the force who destroys your goblin outpost. Two birds one stone for your population problem for a bit. Then keep doing that. See, I can’t say that kind of stuff outside of here,” Caitlyn said.

  I mulled over her words, knowing it wasn’t the worst idea. No one would attack our walls if they had a juicer target first.

  The stairs ended, and we reached a level walkway that was around ten feet wide. On the edges of the walkway, pits rested on both sides. Ten-sided decagons adorned each section of the walls above the pits.

  The lantern barely illuminated the expansive room, but it was eerily quiet with no active portals on.

  “Alright. I expand or let her free when Mom is ready. What about Nee?” I asked.

  “She will become an orc then an ogre. Don’t quote me on that, but it’s almost certain. Jax will slip into madness if you die. So will the others. The undead shouldn’t be breeding. You would be wise to order them all to pull out. The children are literally your children. They only exist because of you,” Caitlyn said.

  “Fuck,” I grunted.

  “Don’t start swearing on my behalf. Same with that undead griffin you got. She will have babies that will have gray feathers, and those little shits will be all super sweet to you. When you die, if you die, they will rampage until killed. Jax is an abomination, sorry,” Caitlyn said.

  I felt my knees wobble and sat at the lip of one of the pits.

  “We can fix this,” I repeated at least a half dozen times under my breath.

  “Except you can’t. I’m on your side on this one, though. Jax did nothing wrong and plenty of children are born with short lives or precarious circumstances that aren’t fair. Be the good man and take the high ground. If you live a long life, so will he,” Caitlyn said in an encouraging way.

  “You just want to see what he turns into,” I said.

  “I do. And so do you.” Caitlyn said, walking to the end of the cavern where a shelf rested. “This place is awful. Baroi… I have good and bad news. The good news is that you did the right thing and preserved her body. The bad news is that I have no idea how to free her from her prison inside this dagger.”

  “Will the elva?” I asked.

  “The creators of the dagger would be the first place I’d go knocking for answers. Too bad they loathe you,” Caitlyn said with a chuckle.

  “It’s not really funny,” I said, and she nodded in apology. “Thanks for the answers. Why are the portals here, and what do we do about this room?”

  “You can only turn this room on with the sacrifice of a Creator disciple. Trace the rune with the blood of the pure, or so I’ve been told. An elva died in here to open the gate. Earth is screwed. Humanity is down to living in pockets. The demon hordes are rampaging the planet, and only a few sections have adapted to the new reality properly.

  “Kelly is one of those people. That girl is a pistol and she sure is fun to watch. I say this because the demon overlords are already trying to find ways onto Ostriva and Nordan Prime. The more death they sow, the more flesh they can bring back to Leo to feed their young and mothers. Savage yet basic,” Caitlyn said.

  “You think the war will spill over?” I asked.

  “It kind of has to. Humanity will reach a point where they persist regardless of the onslaught. That attention will turn elsewhere to find new regions to conquer, and the great war continues. This time, the Six are not in control. At least that is the rumor. Countess Elvio is a prime example of this already happening,” Caitlyn said.

  “If there’s a will, there’s a way,” I said.

  “Yup, and she has a tiny sample to show a powerful emperor on the other side of the sea. It will likely be his ruin by listening to her, but that is not our problem,” Caitlyn said.

  “You don’t think the vamperia will return?” I asked.

  “If you expanded, held it for years, and it fell in a day, would you risk resources to retake it or start another expansion?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Depends on the value of the holding,” I said.

  “True. I’d choose a new spot, but I see the merit. I’m not a mind reader, and my ability to spy on others is indeed limited.”

  “Should I be bringing demons here to harvest the gems?” I asked.

  She eyed me for a long minute while staring into the dagger that housed Baroi. “No. You should not. I say that as your goddess who wants you to win while staying safe. If you choose to do so anyway, I won’t be surprised. Countess Elvio barely contained her portal. Could you? Yes. But what do you do when a champion arrives and eviscerates the room? Nothing, and suddenly your city is flooding with demons.”

  “Well, shit,” I said and let out a long exhale. “Any other lovely tips since you can talk freely?”

  “Yes, don’t trust your mother.”

  “Wait, what?” I blurted in confusion.

  “She hides things from your father. She was gone for a while and ended up having another life on Ostriva Prime, a life that did not include you or your father. If you had a wife and kid back home, and seducing Bell brought you closer to your goal, what would you do?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Oh, indeed. She’s not a bad person, nor should you truly judge her actions from twenty years ago. However, she’s not Tribe Moonguard. Clare won’t be sworn to the same cause or the same purpose. I don’t expect her to betray her only son, but, big but here, I wouldn’t be shocked if she opened a gate and let out ogre children to help her new city or whatever,” Caitlyn said.

  “This is a lot to process,” I said.

  “And now you know why I brought you down here. Oh, Leor and Ossa are back. They need to see what you want to do. I’ll have Cecil meet you at the church,” Caitlyn said. “Unbelievable. I have to use stairs before I can poof away.”

  I listened to her ascending footstep and dangled my feet in the odd dungeon devoted to the Creator. Without a doubt, Caitlyn didn’t fear the all-powerful, using this room without a care. Maybe that was its purpose, to be a counter-balance.

  Time would tell. For the moment, I had more work to do.

  CHAPTER 3

  Moonguard City

  “Sorry, not happening,” I told Tarla, and she squinted her eyes at me. “Look, I love Mags, but I’m not
taking our baby adventuring. At the same time, I’m saying come with me. We have like ninety,” I waved my hands around, “something thousand people who can watch a baby.”

  “I didn’t plan for this. More importantly, you didn’t plan for this,” Tarla said. “I’m leading the team through Caitlyn’s portal. You need to use the general church and build your own team.”

  “Are you taking Asha or Charlie?” I asked.

  “Caitlyn’s portal is on a tropical island with rich soil and dense vegetation. We’re going to be digging and that’s it besides a small hunting team. The tropical trees will help with some lumber but they're not that big. The bushes will -” she paused, realizing she was rambling a bit, “Can you take Mags?”

  Maggie slept peacefully in a tightly bundled wrap draped across her chest. I swore the baby was dead again, but she tended to be dead to the world during the day and a monster at night. Tarla had a point. We were not co-parenting on the same level and to be fair, I didn’t want to parent at all.

  It was hard to admit, but true. She was cute, and I loved her. There shouldn’t be a but after that sentence, but I wanted to sleep at night, and during the day I had a kingdom to run.

  “Give her to me. I’ll find a wet nurse and build a nanny team. You deal with Caitlyn's portal, and I’ll manage the other one. However, not because I’m overly worried, but one of us should stay back,” I said.

  Tarla didn’t hesitate. She lifted Mags off her chest and handed me our daughter. I accepted the snoozing baby, slung her over my chest, and left for the inner keep.

  “If the situation is docile and calm, I will likely return. It’s not like I’m going to be using a shovel,” Tarla said. “Good luck, my handsome man.”

  We exchanged gushy ‘I love yous’, a few extra kisses, and parted ways.

  There must have been a dozen steps that I had to power through to keep walking away. Once I left the church district, I let the feeling that I should be here handling this issue go.

  “First the meeting, then the adventure briefing,” I grumbled. “I thought Mommy would have this all organized and ready to go with -”

  I huffed when Maggie became agitated from my frustration. It was best to keep my mouth shut at that point.

  The walk into the keep was brisk, and I rotated up the spiral tower to reach the courtroom. Mom and Dad waited in a seating area for citizens waiting to air grievances. Nee sat in a small chair beside the throne.

  A goblin talked about how he deserved the value of his wagon since he had moved into a stone house. Nee countered that the cost of the stone house was the wagon. He wanted the wagon then, and his block commander refused to let him have his wagon back.

  Okay, maybe I was happy letting Nee deal with such nuances. I diverted to where Mom and Dad talked in hushed tones.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Where’s Tarla?” Mom asked.

  I stuck a fake smile on my face, sitting between them. “Adventuring.”

  Dad slung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in tight. “Stonemelders are rare, and I was pulled a hundred different directions for work. Did you know if you use too much mana you hurl?”

  “Yeah Dad, I do know that. It gets easier with time.” I chuckled. “What are you two up to?”

  “We wanted to go into a portal with you,” Dad said.

  “Uh, what? Wait. Why?” I asked.

  A wave of emotions ran through me, and almost none of them were positive.

  “I’m out of mana today, and my recharges are too expensive. We need to earn this Sorta now,” Dad said with hand gestures.

  “Zorta, Dad. It’s Zorta. You’re on board with this?” I asked Mom.

  She nodded.

  I huffed. I could handle it a few ways. Dad beamed with excitement, and I could only think of how many times the roles were reversed where it was me pleading to do something dangerous for fun.

  I closed my eyes and nodded. Family. Some family bonding would be great. I just had to tell myself that a few dozen times while grinding my teeth.

  “Come here.” I waved to one of my white-haired human guards. This guy was a true Arax devotee and currently set to follow orders and protect me with minimal personality. “Give my father your gear. After, find General Ike and obtain new armor and weapons.”

  I walked to Nee while the exchange happened. “That’s enough. His grace approaches.”

  “But I need a door on my home,” the korb said.

  “All that will get fixed in time. There is no privacy, there is no escaping the noise, and there is no peace and quiet… yet. The key word is yet. Have faith in your Goddess and your King and have patience. Seeing you in this line means you’re not at a lumber yard seeing how you can be helping,” I said in a commanding tone.

  That sealed the deal. About half the citizens who were waiting in line left.

  “Do you wish to hold court, my Necro King?” Nee asked.

  I glanced at an orc who was next in line. She carried a broken cauldron with a scowl. Answering her complaint seemed a waste of time. “You’re doing great. However, I need a babysitter for Mags,” I told her.

  “There’s a care team in your room. Tarla set it all -”

  I sighed with a wince. “Thanks, Nee. She tested me, and I passed.”

  “I concur. You’re an odd King. A good King,” Nee said. “I will take her to your room.”

  “I got it. Hey, Nee. If I could make you an orc, what would you say?” I asked.

  “I’m near human in this form and feminine. No thanks. If you want to test it, keep upgrading our shield mages and don’t give them a choice,” Nee said.

  “Thanks, Nee, it's on a distant to-do list,” I said, leaving her to handle court instead of taking her up on her offer.

  The walk down the hall towards my room revealed a few more paintings on the walls. I couldn’t help but smile at the crudely drawn images. My door was ajar, and I pressed it open before pausing.

  I sent a few guards in and heard Bell say, “It’s me. Your minions can stand down, Damien.”

  “Oh, hey Bell. You’re here?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Tarla said she needed someone she can trust. Caitlyn told me she is going hunting for a new champion, and I have some down time,” Bell said.

  I brought her Maggie and saw a team of women sewing summer clothes on my balcony.

  “Sewing?” I said.

  “Right, and babysitting. Two things I thought I’d never do. They’re a good bunch. Mags will be sleeping and tonight you can whine,” Bell teased.

  I handed her my daughter with a smile. “Thanks, Bell. Thanks, Ladies,” I raised my voice for the balcony and received a few waves.

  My hasty exit left me feeling guilty. I pushed it down to get to business and confidently strode forward until I found my Dad looking ten sorts of silly. His armor was on right, but the goofy grin killed it for me.

  “How do I look?” Dad asked.

  “Sir Gregory, you look ready to trip and fall, but I was there once. I take it that you and Mom came to a conclusion, and I am the compromise?” I asked.

  “Yes, we’re going to portal jump with you,” Mom said. “At least a few times… or until I have my own.”

  “Follow me. If you die, so be it,” I said, not willing to baby my parents.

  My father waddled behind me, the armor clanking incessantly. Obviously, my mother wasn’t the best at attaching gear.

  “Nee!” I shouted.

  “Sending Teena now, your Grace,” Nee shouted back.

  A goblin ran to where we paused and weaved his armor on tightly until he grunted.

  “Thank you Teena,” Dad said.

  “You’re most welcome. I take foot massages in exchange,” Teena said and Mom roared in laughter.

  The goblin left and I continued for the stables.

  “Where are we going and must it be this tight?” Dad asked as if he struggled to breathe.

  “Yup,” I said. “And we’re going to get Charlie.”


  “Is he a trainer?” Dad asked.

  I snickered with a head shake, walking down the descending spiral. “Charlie is a warhorse. He will do the killing and you will hold on tight.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea son,” Dad said.

  “Yeah, and neither is taking a stonemelder adventuring to a random spot on Nordan,” I said, exiting the spiral ramp. Asha waited on the bench Jorma had sat in earlier. “Ah, Asha. This is Gregory and Clare, my parents. No combat experience, and Mom’s magic is shit in a fight.”

  “We met. You’re joking, right?” Asha asked dryly.

  “I’m right here,” Dad grumbled.

  I ignored them both to an extent. “We need a beastmaster, a dozen scouts, and an ogre regiment.”

  “As you command,” Asha said. “Extra crossbows it is.”

  “Oh, I can shoot a gun. So, I can probably shoot a crossbow,” Dad said in a chipper tone.

  I turned out of the main keep’s walls and headed to the stables. A hundred horses packed the stalls. Cecil waited in front of Charlie’s stable.

  “Who’s this?” Dad asked. “Are we going into the ocean?”

  “We might,” I said with a shrug.

  “This is his… minion controller,” Mom said. “Cecil, right?”

  “Yes, Lady Clare. I am but one of your son’s generals. I do manage his minions. No need to store them in the long term vaults since you freed me,” Cecil said.

  “Okay, you can manage them while we are separated. How long do I have?” I asked.

  “I cannot lose connection to you, but the minions gathering in the forest would have to enter the city. My range is far more limited than yours. This is why I told you to advance to level ten and now tell you to reach level twenty,” Cecil said. I went to ask for clues, but he halted me. “Nope, sorry.”

  I mentally told my minions to return from the Coorg Woods. I sensed five hundred undead centaurs drop what they were doing and begin galloping for our city. The clearing for our territory was almost done anyway. It was time to focus on our portals.

  “Send a note if anything goes wrong or you need me,” I said, stepping around him to unlatch Charlie’s gate.